LUNA LAWS

Support the teachers, vote no on propositions

A recent poll of Idaho residents revealed that public education teachers enjoy an approval rating of more than 76 percent. There is no politician in this state that is as highly respected as any teacher. The typical public education teacher interacts with your children eight hours each day, five days each week. Every day, teachers effectively communicate with your children on the complexities of a variety of subjects. Sadly, these highly educated and passionate professionals have been shut out of the educational conversation, banned from expressing their opinion on the destructive effect of the wretched Luna laws. Whom do you trust more, the teachers who know how to educate your children, or Tom Luna, whose perverted concept of educational reform is only self-serving, or John Goedde, whose frequently expressed hatred of teachers is recorded fact, or Butch Otter, who believes that all education can be received from the Internet, or Frank Vandersloot and the lies of Melaleuca, who seek to drive down wages in order to add profit to his vile organization? End this tyranny of ignorance perpetuated by the politicians. Show your support for the teachers of your children. Vote NO on Propositions 1, 2, and 3 this November.

ADAM COLLINS, Garden City

EDUCATED WORKERS

Graduates are unprepared for high-paying positions

I am writing in reference to the guest opinion from the Moscow-Pullman Daily News of September 17 (“Our school system must meet needs of our employers”).

The company mentioned, Schweitzer Engineering Labs, indeed has gone to great lengths to find qualified local people and keep as much as possible of its engineering and manufacturing business in America. It is a world leader in its field and even has a technical office here in Boise.

But how are companies like SEL going to keep their high-paying jobs in America when many of our people are not adequately prepared? Even some high school and college graduates don’t understand that if they don’t have an appreciation of and know-how in mathematics, they aren’t going to get very far. To run or even participate in any business at any significant level of responsibility, it’s essential to understand, for example, algebra and how to apply it to simple spreadsheets. The computer doesn’t do it all for you. You need to understand what it’s doing and whether the answers make any sense.

DAVE CHURCHILL, Boise